Transcript

00:00:00

>> Amazon, you can't hide.>> Amid growing criticism over pay disparity, Amazon announced Tuesday it will hike the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all of its U.S. workers. In a statement, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, said quote, we listen to our critics, thought hard about what we want to do, and decided we wanted to lead.

00:00:24

The move coming after sustained pressure from former presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. Reuters' BreakingViews columnist, Rob Cyran.>> People such as Bernie Sanders have come out and point out that hey, Amazon's worth a trillion dollars, Jeff Bezos is the most wealthiest person on earth. Yet a lot of Amazon workers have been only stories about they don't get paid that much, there's disconnect between the workers' experience and Amazon as a corporate experience.

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>> In a rare instance of praise Tuesday, Sanders refer to the wage hike as it shots around the world. Bezos responded on Twitter, saying, quote, we're excited about this, and also hope others will join in. To drive that effort, Amazon said it will be using its political muscle in Washington to lift the federal minimum wage, which in 2009 was set to 7.25.

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>> Amazon's been spending a lot of money in Washington, they're ramping up spending. That's because regulators are taking a closer look at the company and wondering whether Amazon's acting anti-competitively. And so there's pressure from regulators to do something about Amazon. And so if Amazon has a reputation of having high wages, that could make a big difference in how lawmakers view the company.

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>> It´s the latest move by a large retailer to boost pay for employees in a tightening labor market. Rivals Walmart and Target have also raised their wages, both of them competing aggressively to hire workers. Amazon´s pay hike kicks in November first, just in time for the critical holiday shopping season.

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The new minimum wage will cover more than 250,000 current employees and 100,000 regional hires.